The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said that the United Nations official declaration that a man-made famine is occurring in Gaza “must mark the end” of the complicity of the Trump administration and Congress in the Israeli government’s ongoing and escalating genocide.
For the first time since Israel began its genocidal campaign, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) says famine exists in Gaza. The IPC was established by the UN, aid groups and governments to monitor global hunger and is the main tool the international community uses to determine whether famine exists in any area.
In the past 24 hours, at least two more people starved to death in Gaza, bringing the total of starvation deaths to 273, including 112 children. Israel has slaughtered more than 62,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children. More than 2,000 people have been murdered by Israel while desperately seeking food for their starving families at Israeli-created, U.S.-backed aid concentration sites.
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“Now that the United Nations has officially recognized the famine in Gaza that human rights groups have warned about for months, President Trump and congressional leaders must, at long last, end U.S. complicity in this genocide.”
“This famine is not a natural disaster — it is the intended outcome of Israel’s brutal blockade, targeted destruction of food systems, and systematic obstruction of humanitarian aid. For months, international aid organizations have sounded the alarm. Today, the United Nations has confirmed what Palestinians have long known: famine in Gaza is Israeli-made and U.S.-backed.
“We urge President Trump to demand that Netanyahu agree to immediately end the genocide with a comprehensive ceasefire deal and we call on Speaker Johnson, Senator Schumer, and Representative Jeffries to recognize the genocide for what it is, call for an arms embargo on Israel and express support for recognition of a Palestinian state.”
Yesterday, CAIR called on members of Congress to recognize Israel’s obvious and documented genocide in Gaza after data from an secret Israeli intelligence database shows that least 83 percent of Palestinians slaughtered in Gaza were civilians – not combatants.
CAIR also condemned the “Israel First” firing of Shahed Ghoreishi, the State Department’s top press officer for Israeli-Palestinian affairs. over how to characterize Trump administration policies, including a controversial plan for ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com